Switch point protectors



Aug. 16, 1955 J. ROBINSON 2,715,507

SWITCH POINT PROTECTORS Filed Oct. 11, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/EE- IN VEN TOR.

JflJEPH KOB/NJON B Q ATTORNEY.

United States Patent SWITCH POINT PROTECTORS Joseph Robinson, New York, N. Y.

Application October 11, 1949, Serial No. 120,791

Claims. (Cl. 246-437) A considerable expense in maintaining railroad track in proper operating condition is due to the constant wear, and occasional breakage, at the thin forward point of the switch blade caused by the grinding impact of car wheels. Wherever railroads are operated in any country this condition exists requiring replacement of the entire switch blade, consisting of several feet of expensive rail, or.repair by welding up the damaged point. Either solution costs time and money. Until a badly worn or broken switch point is repaired danger of derailment is constantly present.

My invention relates to protectors for safeguarding the forward thin edge of switch blades against this hazardous wear and breakage. Among the objects is to provide a simple protector that attaches to the switch blade itself and moves therewith against and away from the railroad rail when the switch is operated. Another object is to provide the protector with an inserted removable protecting device or edge against which the car wheels strike in advance of contacting the switch point. Being removable, this protecting device may be readily replaced with a new one when worn out. The device is preferably made of any suitable material that will last well and which will not unduly wear the flange of the engaging wheel. Hard bronze or manganese steel of proper hardness are suitable materials. Other objects and advantages of my invention are described in the following specification, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improvement showing it attached to the switch blade and bearing against the inside edge of the railroad rail;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the construction shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical section through the rail taken on about the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective of the renewable protecting device or edge D;

Figure 5 is a side elevation of a modification of the structure shown in Figure I;

Figure 6 is a plan view of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a side elevation of a further modification of my improvement;

Figure 8 is a plan view of the construction shown in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a vertical section through the rail taken on about the line 99 of Figure 7;

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the modified foundation member C shown in Figure 7, and

Figure 11 is a perspective view of a modification of the renewable protecting device D.

Referring to the drawings in which like reference characters refer to like or similar parts: A conventional railroad rail is shown at A whilst the usual switch blade is shown at B. To the forward end of the blade I attach, as by bolts or rivets 12, a foundation member C off-set at 14 to bring the head of the member into approximately the plane of the inside edge of the rail head 15. The

Patented Aug. 16, 1955 front end or head 16 of the foundation member includes a pair of vertically spaced bearings 17I8. A supporting pin 19 is passed through the upper bearing .17 and pressed into the bearing 18 with its lower tapered end arranged for engagement with the top of the rail flange 20. Agprotectordevice or removable edge D, made .of suitable material and curved or tapered at :its top portion as shown to deflect the car wheel .21, Figure 3, away from the thin forward edge 22 of the switch blade B, is removably mounted in the bearing 17. The vertical shoulders 23-24 of the bearing engage the base :of the protecting device D to prevent undue rotation of the latter in the hearing. A suitable pin '25 passes through the bearing 17 above the shank 26 of the device D to retain the'device in position in the bearing with the bottom of its Lshank 26 resting on the top of the supporting pin 19. A lug 27 projects inwardly from the inner bottom part of the protector device D to engage under the rail head and lock the device against upward movement relative to the rail head 15 when my improvement is in the service position.

In the modification shown in Figures Sand 6 the bracket C has a single bearing 17 .in which the protecting device or replaceable edge D is removably secured, as previously described. In this embodiment of my improvement the foundation member C is provided with a foot or lug 28 which rests on the upper face of the rail flange 20 to support the member and the protecting device D against downward movement from the service position when engaging the car wheel 21. The base of the protector device is widened .at 29 and rests on a complementarily shaped elongated bearing 30 :formed on the foundation member C.

In the modifications illustrated in Figures 7 to 11 inelusive, the foundation member C includes a metal bearing or holder 31 formed integral with the front end 32 of the member, or separately thereof, and suitably secured thereto as by welding indicated at 33, Figures 9 and 10. If formed separately of the member C, the holder 31 is made of any desired bar stock and bent to the U-shape shown. Its lower part 34 is tapered slightly to conform to the taper of the upper face of the rail flange 20 which it engages to support the removable protector device or edge D in place and to relieve the bolts or rivets 12 of downward stresses when the protector device is engaged by passing car wheels. The thickness of the Walls of the holder 31 determine the extent if any to which the front end 32 of the foundation member is off-set at 14 to bring the inner face of the protector device D into approximately the plane of the inside edge of the rail head 15.

In this embodiment of my invention, as in the instance of the construction previously described, the top 32 of the protector device is flared in the horizontal and vertical directions, Figures 8 and 9, to divert the engaging car wheels away from the thin forward edge 22 of the switch blade B. This is done in order that engagement of the wheels with the blade will occur well back of the thin area of the blade and in a relatively thick section thereof. A lug or foot 36, Figures 8, 9 and 11, projects inwardly from the protector device D and hooks under the rail head to prevent upward movement of the device from the service position. A web 37, forming a part of the protector device, extends into the groove or slot 38, Figure 10, of the holder 31 with the shoulders 3940 of the device, Figures 9-11, resting on the top of the holder. A bolt or other suitable means 41 passes through the holder and through the web 37 of the protector device to secure the device in position on the foundation member C and to firmly but removably lock it in the groove 38. The groove may if desired be formed in the front end 32 of the foundation member, or the metal which forms the holder 31 may be forge-drawn from the front end of the member C and then bent to the U-shape shown. When either of these constructions is employed, the front end 32 of thefoundation member, C becomes the holder in place of the separately formed holder 31.

/ It will be understood that my invention is moved against and away from the railA and is held in that position by the conventional switch mechanism (not shown) generally in use on all railroads everywhere, and that the impact stresses of service are not received primarily by the foundation member C but mainly by the removable protector device D and the supporting pin 19, Figure 3, and the holder 31, Figure 9, each of which rests at its bottom upon the flange 20 of the rail. When the protector device D is worn out it is removed and a new one inserted.

What I claim is:

1. A switch point protector comprising in combination, a switch blade having a relatively thin forward point, a railway rail against one side of which the blade is adapted to engage, a protector device removably mounted on the other side of said switch blade, said protector device having a part adapted to engage the top of the rail flange to support said device against downward movement relative to the rail and another part adapted to engage underthe head of the rail to prevent upward movement of said device.

2. A switch point protector comprising in combination, a switch blade having a relatively thin forward point, a railway rail against one side of which the blade is adapted to engage, a foundation member secured to and carried by the other side of the switch blade and provided with a bearing, a protector device removably mounted in said bearing and adapted to engage said rail, means for retaining the device in said bearing for preventing undue movement of the device therein, and supporting means carried by said member and engaging the top of the flange of said rail to support said device and to relieve said member of downward stresses due to impact of the car wheels with said device and a member engageable with the underpart of the rail head to prevent upward movement of said protector device.

3. A switch point protector comprising in combination, a switch blade having a relatively thin forward point, a railway rail against one side of which the blade is adapted to engage, a foundation member off-set inwardly around the front end of said blade, and a protector device removably mounted on the off-set portion of said member for protecting the forward thin end of the blade from the impact of car wheels and means for supporting said protector device against vertical movement with respect to said rail.

4. A switch point protector device comprising in combinati0n,.a switch blade having a relatively thin forward point, a railway rail against one side of which the blade is adapted to engage, a foundation member secured to and carried by the other side of the switch blade, 2. part attached to said member and adapted to engage the top of the rail flange to support said protector device against downward movement and to relieve said member of downward stresses on impact of car Wheels with said device, said part being provided with an elongated vertically positioned bearing in which said device is removably mounted, and means for anchoring said device in said bearing.

5 A switch point protector such as described in claim 4 in which said bearing includes a slot and said device is provided with a web-like shank disposed in said slot and clamped therein by said anchor means, that portion of said part which engages the rail flange being tapered complementaril'y to the taper on the flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 990,336 Canty Apr. 25, 1911 1,032,484 Jones July 16, 1912 1,597,255 Weedon Aug. 24, 1926 1,811,620 Einstein et al June 23, 1931 1,848,363 Lee Mar. 8, 1932 

